The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is planning to open a downtown daytime center for homeless people in October, officials said Wednesday.

The Micah Center, which will be located at 700 E. Walnut St., is tied to St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter. It's intended to give homeless people a place to go during the day and will offer a range of services.

"There are parts of the building that are simply that, welcoming people in, offering them a place to stay warm, and giving them a place where they feel welcome," said Alexia Wood, executive director of St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter.

"Our long-term goal is to be able to offer the classes, the workshops, and one-on-one counseling and case management and the resources ... to really help them become successful."

Buy Photo

Alexia Wood, executive director of St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter, talks about plans for space in The Micah Center. The facility at 700 E. Walnut St. in Green Bay is a daytime resource center expected to work with the area’s homeless and financially struggling community.
(Photo:
Nathan Phelps/Press-Gazette Media
,
Nathan Phelps/Press-Gazette Media
)

That includes finding employment, housing, and being out on their own, she said.

The center is expected to open in late October, before the overnight homeless shelter opens for the season, officials said. The daytime center will be open year-round from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Weekend and holiday needs are still being hashed out.

Wood said the Micah Center is expected to help some downtown businesses — including the Brown County Library — where homeless people have congregated to stay warm.

"Businesses downtown that have been feeling the burden of that increasing need over the past couple of years will now have a referral site," she said.

Wood estimated about 40 people a day could use the center.

The final stages of the center came together in the last 60 days, with the diocese on Monday completing the $300,000 purchase of the building, which housed professional offices. About 66 percent of the building's cost was covered by donors, said Diocese of Green Bay Deacon Tim Reilly.

"This is something that has been talked about both at the City Council level and within the community — how important it is for us to have some sort of day center for people to come to and be able to productively put their time to use," he said.

Reilly said the project was kept largely quiet until Wednesday.

"We're not looking for any zoning variations. We don't need a conditional use permit. We're using the building the way it was intended," he said. "I don't anticipate there will be any issues."

The center is seeking furniture and computers.

Wood said the center is also set up to offer help to people who are struggling financially.

"It is not a resource center specifically for individuals who are sleeping in a homeless shelter-environment that night — we predict that will be a large percentage of our numbers, but if somebody is struggling, on the fringe of homelessness, or near poverty, this is the place they can come ... to connect to other area resources," she said.